Mrs Laura Abbott
by Blood-On-Glass
Summary: David is drinking again, so Elizabeth tries to distract him. A great deal is learned about his deceased wife, Laura, and about David's feelings toward Elizabeth. Kind of like a missing scene from the movie.


**AN: I watched this movie for the first time last night. It's been on my shelf for years and I just never watched it. I really enjoyed it though so I decided to write something on it.**

Another day, another beer can cracked open. It was David's third one and it was barely noon. He sat on the couch, the beer in his hand, listening to the soft music that was playing from the bedroom. Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again" from The _Phantom of the Opera_ was barely audible from the distance, but due to the fact he listened to it on a regular basis he knew exactly what was being said. He wasn't an opera fan-in fact he hated opera and musicals for that matter, but it was one of Laura's favorite movies and she was always constantly playing her Andrew Lloyd Webber album, so hearing it around the house was almost like she never left. Plus, the lyrics weren't completely unrelatable.

"I thought you said you would ease up on the drinking," came a criticizing voice from behind him. He slowly closed his eyes and mentally counted to three before answering.

"And I thought you said you were going to go haunt the hospital."

"Please," Elizabeth scoffed before plopping down next to David on the couch. "I got bored. Besides, I don't _haunt,_ that's what ghosts do, and I'm not a ghost."

"Fine. I thought you were going to go _stalk_ everyone at the hospital," David corrected himself.

"Now you're just making me sound creepy."

David didn't answer, instead he took a drink from his beer can, not caring that Elizabeth was looking at him through judgemental eyes.

"What are you listening to anyway?" she asked, changing the subject.

David listened to the lyrics that were coming from the bedroom:

 _Close you eyes and surrender to your darkest dreams_

 _Leave all thoughts of the world you knew before_

 _Close your eyes, let your spirit start to soar_

 _And you'll live as you've never lived before_

"Music of the night," he answered.

"What the hell is that?" she asked, wrinkling her nose.

"I thought every woman was familiar with _Phantom of the Opera_." Elizabeth gave him a look and he sighed. "Oh, that's right, you were a workaholic. It's a broadway musical that got turned into a movie which I've seen only a million times. It's a romance thing that I'm sure has a deeper plot that I just never was able to figure out."

Elizabeth raised her eyebrows and smiled. "I don't take you for a romantic guy. Or musicals for that matter. Or anything with a deep plot."

David rolled his eyes. "I'm not."

Elizabeth looked at him. "Then why-" she stopped, realization dawning on her. "Oh. I'm guessing Laura was a romantic musicals kind of girl."

David nodded, looking ahead. "Yeah. She loved them all. _West Side Story, Evita,_ even _Cats,_ and God, that one is just awful."

Elizabeth laughed. "What's that one about?"

"Cats. Literally that's it."

Elizabeth laughed. "I've never heard you play it before. Or any of the musicals."

David shrugged. "It's been a while," he admitted. "But today. . ."

"What's today?" Elizabeth asked.

"Today would have been our fifth anniversary."

The smile faded from Elizabeth's face and she looked down at the floor. "I'm sorry," she whispered sympathetically. "It must be so hard."

David shrugged again. "Yeah." A small smile crept on his face. "It's funny, I could _never_ remember our anniversary when she was alive. It always just escaped my mind."

"What did she look like?" Elizabeth asked.

"I can't even describe her," David answered. "I could show her to you, if you'd like."

"A picture?"

David smiled. "I've got something better." He got up from the couch and put a tape in the VHS player. He turned on the TV and was greeted by his wife's beautiful smile. He pressed play and the room was filled with her laughter as David was shoving cake into her mouth. Her laughter was music to his ears despite only coming from the TV. He glanced over at Elizabeth who was completely silent, probably for the first time since they met, and he was surprised to see tears in her eyes.

"Lizzie?" he asked slowly.

"Oh, God, David, she's gorgeous," she whispered, a tear rolling down her cheek. She looked over at him. "I wish I could hug you."

David let out a small breath of laughter. "It looks like you're the one who needs it right now to be honest."

Elizabeth sighed. "I feel so bad for you. Nobody deserves to lose the love of their life."

"It's not just that."

She shook her head. "It's not." Another tear rolled down her cheek. "It just makes me think of what I could have had. I spent my entire life at the hospital, and I might die knowing I never actually _lived._ It just makes me. . . sad."

David looked back at his wife on the TV. "You won't die, Lizzie. I couldn't do anything for Laura when she died, but I will do everything in my power to help you. You will get out of that coma and you will finally _live your life._ I promise."

 _And maybe it will be with me._ He didn't dare to say those words out loud, but he had a feeling Elizabeth knew anyway. He stared at his wife. There was no way in hell he was going to lose the woman he was in love with again.

He wouldn't be able to survive if he did.

 **AN: I know that was super short but I just wanted a scene where the two talked about Laura a little more. The movie didn't talk about her enough in my opinion. Hope it was enjoyable, though I doubt anyone is still talking about/reading about this movie anymore. It's like ten years old and wasn't ever that popular. I was so surprised when I saw Mark Ruffalo was in it. I love him!**


End file.
